And I Love You
by TrimbyJean
Summary: One-shot. "Just remember that I'm Noah Puckerman, and I love you."


Summary: "The next time you think that you aren't good enough for anything, remember that I'm Noah Puckerman, and I love you."

Inspiration: A quote from Gossip Girl. I love Chuck and Blair 3

*So, my friend said I was crazy, because she said if anyone was like Chuck and Blair from Glee, it was Puck and Santana, to which I replied that Satan could go to Hell because there was only one girl for Puck and that was a tiny, overdramatic Jewish brunette (we fight about this a lot). Anyway, I was rewatching season 3 and when Chuck said that to Blair ("Remember I'm Chuck Bass, and I love you") I was struck by the inspiration fairy. So I sat down right then and there, and wrote this. The backstory of how Puck and Rachel ended up where they are is in there, in flashback form. (On a side note, words cannot express how happy I am that Chuck is finally comfortable telling Blair he loves her. I've waited SO LONG for them to reach that point).

Rating: M, just for minor swearing

DISCLAIMED

Rachel paced her dressing room, biting her lower lip and having a meltdown. Puck lounged on the sofa, his eyes following her. She was in hair and makeup, and her brown eyes kept flitting to the dress hanging on the back of the door.

"Babe? You okay?"

"What if it's horrible? What if they hate me, and laugh at me? I'll get laughed right out off of Broadway!"

"Rach, you've rehearsed yourself to death over this for like, the past three months. Not to mention, you were Maria in high school. I think it's safe to say that it won't be horrible."

"But Maria is an iconic role! What if they don't believe it? What if they think I don't look right, that my nose is too big, or that I'm too short or-"

Puck leaned forward and snagged Rachel around the waist, pulling her into him. She stood between his splayed out legs, his big rough hands on her tiny waist. "Look, Rachel." Her eyes snapped to his. He only ever used her full name when he was serious. "You've spent your entire life going around telling everyone you're going to be a fuckin' Broadway star. You have a million trophies at home proving you're damn good enough to be here, and you earned your spot by going through high school with your head held high, ignoring everyone who fuckin' tried to tell you that you weren't gonna make it. Why the fuck would you all of a sudden think that you don't fuckin' belong on that stage more than anyone else?"

Rachel sat on his leg and wound her arms around his neck. She rested her head on his shoulder and as the smell of her strawberry shampoo hit him, he was instantly reminded on the last time they had been like this.

_Puck sat in the choir room, alone. Everyone had left after Mr. Schue's performance of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow', and Santana had said something about a Glee party at her place (which she followed up with an, "I don't love you people, okay, but I'm gonna be seriously bored, and I'd rather be drunk and bored with people" when everyone stared at her funny), but Puck didn't feel like partying. He didn't feel like doing anything._

"_Noah?" He looked up and saw Rachel standing there, looking at him with concern. _

"_What are you doin' here, Rach?" He scrubbed a hand over his face and tried to look bored. Rachel and him had a good friendship, but in school he still needed to look like a badass, and spending alone time with Berry (excluding naked time) would hurt his rep._

"_I have no desire to go to Santana's and watch our fellow Glee clubbers waste themselves on mind-altering substances. I prefer my fun to be sober and easily recalled to mind the next day. I also noticed that you didn't leave with everyone else, and thought something might be wrong. Usually, you're the first one out the door for a party." She smoothed her skirt and moved a little closer to him. "Do you want to talk about it?"_

"_No." He slumped lower in the chair and splayed his legs out, refusing to look at her. Refusing to look into those big, chocolate colored eyes because the minute he did, he'd do whatever she asked. He would never say it out loud, but he was a sucker for Rachel Berry. Ever since their almost relationship, he'd really lost it where she was concerned. She was crazy and a little weird, but she listened to him and understood him. She didn't judge (okay, yeah, she did, but she did it in a nice way) and supported him about Quinn. _

_Quinn. Shit. He didn't want to think about Quinn, or the blonde baby girl Shelby Corcoran had taken. _

_Rachel sat down on his leg and ran a hand over his mohawk. "Noah, it's okay."_

"_No, it isn't, Rach." The words were pouring out before he could stop them. "Shit, it's never gonna be okay. When my dad left, I made a promise that I'd never be like him, never make anyone feel like shit the way he made me. I didn't wanna be responsible for making some little girl cry like my mom and my sister cried. And now, I am, because one day that little girl is gonna realize that Shelby isn't her mom, and that means that out there somewhere is a mom who didn't want her, and if that mom didn't want her, her dad probably didn't want her, either." He looks up at Rachel, trying his hardest not to cry and failing (crying in school, with crazy Rachel Berry on his knee, is so not badass). "But I did, Rach. I really wanted her. I wanted her, and Quinn didn't even let me hold her in the hospital."_

_Rachel just wrapped her arms around him and pulled his head against her shoulder. She sat with him for a good twenty minutes while he cried, and when he was done, she stood up with him and gave him a kiss on the forehead, going up onto her tip toes to do it. She walked with him to his truck and let him take her home, and not once did she say anything. Talkative, mile-a-minute, swallowed a dictionary Rachel Berry was silent. _

_When they got to her house, she opened the door and looked at him before getting out. "For what it's worth, Noah, you are nothing like your father. And Beth will know you love her, even if I have to reconnect with my mother and tell Beth everything about you." She hopped out and went in her house, and Puck sat there in his truck for five minutes, wondering why his heart was hurting like it'd been hit with something._

He called her up the next day, and they spent all summer together. She helped him forget about Quinn, and he helped her deal with telling Finn that she didn't have feelings for him anymore (although he had to give the giant credit- telling her he loved her before right before they went on at Regionals was slightly romantic). They survived junior year, with a new coach, Kurt having to leave, and all the other drama that hit the fan (Finn cheated on Quinn with Santana, and Quinn dumped his ass for Sam). Somehow, they were still together Senior Year and made it through that alive, too (new kids from Ireland, the musical, running for student class president and losing to Kurt). They spent the summer with their friends, and when fall came, moved out to New York. Rachel immediately began canvassing the city for roles while Puck got a job and worked his way through college (who knew, right? Rach had made him clean up his act and he was actually pretty damn smart).

It was three years later, and she was finally on Broadway- Maria in _West Side Story_. Blaine was actually there, as well, playing her Tony (something that made both him and Rachel happy- her because Blaine could handle her drama and keep up with her musically, and him because he didn't have to worry about chemistry getting the better of them). Puck had given up on college and become a bartender, which wasn't glamorous but paid well and kept him happy.

"Look, baby, I'm beginning to feel offended, here. I mean, you got me- the most badass, unattainable guy in high school- tied down and basically whipped. He followed you to New York, and is currently living in a slightly-less-crappy-than-the-first-but-still-crappy apartment. _With you_." He pulled back so he could look at her. "So, the next time you think that you aren't good enough for anything, especially Broadway, you just need to remember one thing, baby." He put a hand on either cheek and forced her to look him right in the eye. "Remember that I'm Noah Puckerman, and I love you." He kissed her, and then patted her hip. "Now, go get dressed and kick ass out there, 'kay babe?"

Rachel nodded and stood up with a smile. She shimmied into her dress and finished prepping for the opening. Puck sat back and just watched her, satisfied that he had calmed her down.

Rachel was fan-fuckin'-tastic. She completely owned Maria and Puck could see some people with tears in their eyes by the end of the show. The crowd stood and gave her a standing ovation, and Puck whooped and hollered, ignoring the glares he got from older ladies (fuck 'em, that was _his_ girl up there). As soon as the lights went up, he rushed backstage to get to her before the door to her dressing room was swamped by people.

Rach was already seated in front of the vanity when he poked his head in, and she was laughing and talking with some blonde woman holding a notepad. Puck quietly snuck in and sort of just laid himself on the couch, not wanting to intrude.

"So, Rachel, obviously you shined out there tonight, and I think that the audience would agree with me that you are, without a doubt, one of the most believable and beautiful Marias in the history of the show. You've truly made the revival of this production a smash. What I'd like to know is how you prepped for this?"

"Well, we spent so many tiring days in rehearsal getting the moves just right and making sure everything was perfect- stage direction, lines. We must've run through this so many times. I think it's actually permanently imprinted on my brain." She and the reporter laughed, and Puck kinda smirked. He remembered coming into the kitchen one morning and finding her doing some awkward choreography.

"But really, Rachel, how did you convey so much emotion out there tonight? You practically radiated with it the entire show, especially the scenes where you were happy. I don't think I've ever seen a smile so big." Rach glanced at Puck and smiled shyly at him, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"If I can be honest, Denise, it was all thanks to some wise advice I received before going on tonight. I was a total wreck, thinking that I'd be terrible tonight. Then, someone reminded me that I have come so far to get here, and that being Maria on Broadway isn't the most incredible thing I've done in my life so far. He managed to make something so huge seem like the simplest thing in the world." Her smile widened, and she turned to look at him again. "It really gave me the confidence to go out there and just shine."

"Like the star she is." Puck rumbled, grinning back at her. The reporter flashed him a knowing smile and asked Rachel a few more questions before shaking her hand and letting her know the piece would be in the entertainment section of the New York Times in a few days. After shutting the door behind her, Rachel squealed in delight and jumped onto the couch and Puck's lap. He let out an "oomph" and laughed a little as she grinned at him and kissed him multiple times and babbled on about how great the night was, and how she loved him for telling her off.

He just wrapped an arm around her and sat up, pulling her close. "I'm glad it worked out, babe. Can we go home now?"

"Oh, yes, Noah. Just let me finish changing and get my coat." She hopped up but stopped in front of him and put a hand on his cheek. "When we get home, I'll thank you properly for earlier." She gave a teasing smile and slipped behind the partition to change. Puck leaned back with a smirk and shifted in his seat. Tonight was gonna be a good night.


End file.
